“We will not go to Doha” –

Hamas said it would not take part in the new round of ceasefire talks in Gaza, scheduled for Thursday, August 15 in Qatar, but would later hold talks with mediating countries. “Going to new negotiations allows the occupation to impose new conditions and use the labyrinth of negotiations to conduct more massacres,” senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters.

“Hamas is committed to the proposal presented on July 2, which is based on the UN Security Council resolution and Biden’s speech, and the movement is ready to immediately begin discussions on a mechanism to implement it,” Abu Zuhri added. Hamas’s absence from the talks, however, does not eliminate the possibility of seeing results: its chief negotiator Khalil al-Hayya is based in Doha, and the Palestinian group has open channels with Egypt and Qatar. A source familiar with the matter says Hamas wants the mediators to return with a “serious response” from Israel. If that happens, Hamas says, it will meet with the mediators after the session on Thursday, August 15.